


in someone else's eyes you are definitely shining

by jeolmeoniji



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Radio, Clubbing, Exchange students, Fluff, M/M, cute and easy and soft, flustered renjun, gentleman yuta, inspired by renra aka akdong seoul plz support renjun on his radioshow, references to the beauty of foreign languages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25617625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeolmeoniji/pseuds/jeolmeoniji
Summary: When Renjun isn't busy taking care of his radio show with Donghyuck three evenings a week, he's busy looking at the really polite and handsome guy who always sits in front of him in their Joseon literature class.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65
Collections: Foreign NCT 1





	in someone else's eyes you are definitely shining

**Author's Note:**

> i hope the prompter will like what i did with their prompt!! it was a delight to work on it!!

“It has been RenD.”

“And SunD!”

“Thank you to everyone who followed our radio show tonight too.”

“And we wish you a good night. Bye bye!”

Renjun took out his headphones while the ending jingle resonated in the recording room. Behind the glass window, Jeno made a thumbs up. Their work was finally over for today.

“Your cover of Shawn Mendes was really good, Hyuck,” Jeno said.

“Thanks! We practiced it with Mark the other day for fun with his guitar,” Donghyuck replied, and then he hummed the chorus of _If I can't have you_ , a reminder of what their usual Thursday's special corner had been.

The special corner was Donghyuck's idea. Usually, Renjun and he got messages from their listeners, and answered the questions or replied with words of encouragements – that was for Mondays. Then on Wednesdays, they talked about what was going on around campus, about their own majors, and it also was the day for Renjun's chinese corner, where Donghyuck acted like he understood Renjun's every word when he was reading the few messages from chinese students they got. There was also the chinese word of the day, that he explained in korean, and Donghyuck always repeated it with his cute accent of someone who wasn't used to a foreign language.

This little corner for the university radio show that he hosted three days a week with Donghyuck really was precious to Renjun, and just for that he knew he'd remember his undergraduate years with a fond smile.

Renjun loved to talk in korean, and he loved to talk in chinese, too. After all, it was his mother tongue, and being far away from his childhood place could become a bit lonely sometimes. When he felt homesick, he listened to the chinese songs of his childhood, the old songs his parents listened to and that he learned to love as well. He liked seeing the characters of the lyrics flowing in front of him, delivering their meaning, he relished in the beautiful strokes of each one of them. He couldn't share the visual of chinese characters through his voice, so he opted for the sonority and the meaning of words for his radio corner.

Korean brought him comfort, too. Not the same kind as chinese did, but it was something he was far from leaving behind for sure. He'd worked a lot to learn this language, to decipher its secret, to give meaning to their alphabets and then making it his own too. All the time he spent on understanding grammar and new words, all the time he spent on pronouncing this language with its specific sounds, different from chinese, was a time that comforted Renjun, that made him think that at least, he was a good at something.

Combining these two for _Akdong Radio_ with his best friend Donghyuck had been a great idea. Call him a bit too sentimental over the beauty of languages, Renjun would take it. Once, Jaemin had complained about his _language boner_ , so really, he had heard it all. (Jaemin was one to talk, with his obsession for English.)

“Don't you want to cover something too one day, Renjun?” Jeno asked. “I think it would be great if the both of you try that. People seem to like this part of Thursday's recording a lot.”

“I'm no performing art major contrary to Hyuck, though,” Renjun replied.

“It doesn't matter, we all know how good your voice is, when we go to the karaoke. Or when you sing in the shower,” Donghyuck teased.

Renjun whined, but let the subject drop there, not entertaining the idea longer.

They exited the studio with the swiftness that came out of habit, talking about their plan for the night. That was once they were in the hall of the building that they passed by two seniors from the university radio station, and they greeted them politely.

Johnny was a graduate student who knew the campus like it was his own home, and Jaehyun a senior, that Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno knew a little bit better, because he was Jaemin's older brother.

Despite Jaemin's connection, the sophomores didn't mingle that much with the elders; they didn't share any classes together, and even if they exchanged a few words at the radio or during a party, their circles didn't collide a lot at all. Renjun thought that he already had a hard time keeping up with his friends from the same year. And what would Johnny, a graduate, do with people like them?

If there was one graduate student that Renjun liked to talk to, it was Kun, but he was busy working on his thesis, and more often than not, he was in his music studio working. Kun took care of him as much as he could, feeling responsible for Renjun mostly when he had arrived in Seoul for university, as a fellow chinese student, but work came in the way, and Renjun was independent enough to take care of himself. It was easier for him to bother his same age friends, even if he couldn't say no when Kun invited him when he cooked chinese food that reminded Renjun fondly of home.

“Man, I wish _Akdong Radio_ got always a crazy amount of listeners as Johnny and Jaehyun's _Night night_ ,” Donghyuck sighed with stars and envy in his eyes.

“Our audience is still quite good,” Jeno commented

“Do you think if we ask Jaemin to sneak on Jaehyun to know what makes them so popular, we would gain more listeners?”

Renjun rolled his eyes, half deadpanned and half amused.

“They are our seniors, we could simply ask them for some help if you want us to step up our game so badly.”

“I think a good part of their popularity comes from Johnny, who's around here since so long. He's got time to build up a fervent audience, and it's the same for Jaehyun,” Jeno said. “Also, you know those viewable shows they did from time to time? I think it helped too, to have a glimpse of the radio DJs.”

“People would love to see Renjun drowning in his oversized old grey hoodie,” Donghyuck teased.

Renjun, pulling up the hood over his ruffled hair, sticked out his tongue.

“I'm really comfy in this!” he retorted.

“Seriously though,” Donghyuck continued, after he clutched Renjun's arm and didn't let go while they were walking to their dorm, “maybe it would be a good thing to try. For the radio.”

“Do you know the hassle it is to prepare for a viewable show? I would actually need to seek for help, since I've never done it,” Jeno pouted

“Well, maybe one day we could try, if we do enough research and everyone's up to.”

Renjun nodded. They could bring it up at the next big gathering to talk about the activities regarding their radio show.

When he wasn't being the host for his radio, Renjun was an undergraduate student like anyone else, with his many papers handed online a few minutes before deadline and his weird addiction to one specific drink from the coffee shop on campus – his friends would always see him with a cup of jasmine and yuzu tea with no sugar but honey instead.

That was indeed what he had in his hands when he entered his first Joseon literature class. The new semester had already begun, memories of a freezing but heartwarming January month spent binge-watching dramas with Donghyuck in their dorm and contents preparation for the radio corners already feeling so far away from Renjun in the frenzy that was everything around him settling down slowly. The changed schedules, the new buildings, some students he recognized from other classes he had in first year, others who he saw for the first time. It was half exhausting and half exhilarating to go through all the changes a new semester brought.

He wondered if there would be a big and unforgettable change this time.

Renjun sat down a few rows from the front desk, putting his tea cup on the table and getting his laptop ready. Around him, everyone was sitting as well, exchanging a few words while taking off their jackets and numerous accessories to fight the cold outside; he himself kept his beanie on. He didn't give attention around him while opening a new document on his laptop to take his notes later, and he raised his hand to take his tea cup and drink a few gulps when the person in the row just in front of him jostled his cup while removing their jacket. Renjun gasped because he could already picture his laptop drenched in honey and smelling like jasmine. _What a way to begin the semester_ , he thought with a last desperate move toward his drink, when suddenly the same person who caused the ruckus reacted in a millisecond and stabilized his drink. Not a single drop of yuzu had been shed.

Renjun raised his eyes toward the student who gave him an nearly heart attack, and he met two sharp and glittering eyes enhanced with a champagne eyeshadow.

“I'm sorry,” the guy murmured. “Is your laptop ok?”

Renjun had a hard time glancing back to his laptop, which arbored no wet spot, the cursor on his new open document blinking lazily back at him.

“Got no harm, everything's fine,” Renjun replied.

He realized he should have a bewildered and ridiculous expression, because the guy in front of him smiled a little bit more, and Renjun straightened up and cleared his throat, one of his hands playing with the col of his shirt.

“A chance I could catch your drink before it dropped everywhere. I would have paid you a new one if that was the case. Hm, less expensive than buying a new laptop, that's for sure,” and the guy chuckled while pushing gently Renjun's drink toward Renjun.

Renjun emitted a little laugh too. He was a bit taken aback as well as a bit flustered. The guy in front of him had long auburn hair, messy strands framing his strong jaw.

“Enjoy your tea!”

And after a last dazzling smile, he turned his head back toward the front of the lecture hall, and sat down at the chair right in front of Renjun.

Renjun gulped down on air and not his tea, because now he could see a few silver hair clips keeping together rebel strands. Renjun had no idea he would find it adorable on someone else – he remembered how once, Donghyuck had tried to put in his hair sparkly hair clips as well, and Renjun had found it bothersome.

It looked really good on this guy's haircut though.

Renjun was lucky the guy couldn't see how intense Renjun's stare was. He couldn't help it, curious now that this student was the first one he interacted with in the class.

Renjun finished his tea before it became too cold for his liking when the lecturer entered the hall, and then they went down to business directly. Renjun was lucky he had read the syllabus already, and he opened it on his screen to have a reminder while taking notes down as the lecturer went through details before attacking his class. From time to time, Renjun would glance at the guy's notes in front of him; he didn't have a laptop and wrote down everything in a messy yet endearing handwriting, while doodling in the margins.

Renjun found it cute.

However, finding someone cute in his class wasn't what would give him good notes and good grades, so he focused back on the lecturer's speech. He had not chosen the easiest literature class, and even with his almost bilingual level in Korean, there was still subtleties he quite didn't get, as they were touching old subjects and vocabulary; that was already hard enough for Koreans themselves, but for a foreign student like him, there were lots of additional notes he had to make on his document to be sure to check later what he had not caught.

In front of him, the long haired guy would sometimes circle words in a red marker. Not that Renjun was looking.

In the middle of the lesson, the lecturer passed to a slide of his powerpoint and Renjun realized with delight that it was a comparison with a literary text in chinese, and for a few seconds his eyes wandered on the well-known characters, even if they were traditional. Renjun's curious guy – Renjun scolded himself internally, he wasn't _his_ guy, damn – noted down a few characters with so much ease that it surprised Renjun, as if that guy was familiar with them. In a corner of his brain, Renjun wondered if he spoke chinese, too.

But he wouldn't really be bold enough to ask, he sighed, defeated.

The lecturer went through the rest of his slides with the same intense pace, and Renjun almost let out a cry of deliverance when the end of the lecture arrived. All the contents they've looked at was really interesting, and Renjun was intellectually appealed, but the intensity and the difficulty of the class were something he still had to get accustomed to. He was lucky he loved his studies.

While he was lazily opening his bag on the table to put away his laptop, the guy in front of him had already put all his notes in his own bag, ready to leave with his jacket over his shoulder. However, before leaving, he turned toward Renjun, smiled at him, and said:

“Have a good day!”

And then he left, after Renjun stuttered and replied “Have a nice day, too”.

Renjun looked at him walking out the doors, and he felt his cheeks becoming a little bit warmer. A smile crept up his face, and it's with light steps that he left the lecture hall as well.

Maybe the class was difficult, but if he could see this guy every time he went to the lecture, then Renjun thought he would spend a good semester.

And at first, the guy who always sat in front of Renjun during his Joseon literature class was just that: another student that Renjun appreciated for his stunning smile and fascinating haircut. He would feel a bit bad about himself, to value someone else on their visuals only, but he also acknowledged how kind and caring the guy was, too. It had been pretty obvious during their first – and only – interaction, but Renjun saw him helping the lecturer with giving out extra documents, and even keeping the door open to other people just like a gentleman out of a parisian novel.

It might seem outdated, but politeness was _sexy_ , if you asked Renjun. (That wasn't the only sexy detail, either.)

Renjun learnt the guy's name rather quickly, but not by asking him directly – because, as Donghyuck would make fun of him, he wasn't really gifted in the small talk department, and maybe the guy intimidated him a little bit. When the lecturer passed a sheet for attendance, Renjun saw easily that the guy he had a friendly (ahem) attachment to was named Nakamoto Yuta. His name gave away that he was japanese, and Renjun felt a little bit less alone in that class surprisingly filled with only koreans. Him and Yuta must have been the only two foreign students crazy enough to want to follow such a difficult class.

So Renjun's routine in his Joseon literature class was somehow always the same, and it heavily reposed on Yuta's presence he could enjoy to look at. He felt a bit like a shojo manga character – as problematic as some were, they depicted enamoured people quite well.

Not that Renjun had a crush, or would act on his interest, or something. Nope.

He barely even talked about Yuta to Donghyuck, because that would make his staring a little bit more awkward and desperate than it already was. He wanted to keep it mostly for himself, this game of having a special student in his class that he liked more than the others for biased reasons. Not like it was groundbreaking, or would change Renjun's life. It was casual. He didn't even talk to the guy.

(He kinda wished to, though.)

And he had been right to wish, because maybe the universe out there had caught up on his little silly behaviour that meant no harm, and thought that Renjun had been good enough to his friends for always cooking them their favourite food, so he deserved something good, too.

When Renjun sat down at his usual place that day, Yuta was at his spot, too, and Renjun smiled behind his traditional cup of honeyed yuzu jasmine tea, because that day Yuta had chosen sparkly pins to adorn his brown hair, and Renjun could appreciate the aesthetic.

He quite enjoyed having this little college cliché situation going on, he sighed happily to himself.

The first thing the lecturer said once he arrived in the lecture hall was:

“Today, I'll ask you to find someone else to work with as a pair for your final presentation. I want the list of every duo at the end of the lecture, so take a few minutes to mingle around and discuss between yourself.”

Renjun didn't have time to process entirely what it meant, halfway through a sip of his tea, when Yuta turned around and looked at him intensely. Renjun's eyes widened, taken aback.

Holy shit, Yuta was looking at him.

“I don't know if you had someone in mind for this project, but what do you think if we work together?”

Renjun blinked for a few seconds, and then lowered his cup and swallowed way too loudly his sip, but Yuta didn't seem disgusted nor like what he said was something he would take back.

Honestly, Renjun didn't know anyone else in the class, as he had been so focused on keeping the same exact seat behind Yuta and that the front rows were almost void of people, so Yuta offered him a perfect opportunity to save him and actually get a partner easily for the final project.

“I had no one in mind, so it's totally fine by me, if you want to,” he replied, and by saying that it didn't really register to him that holy shit he was talking to Yuta and they'd do that a lot more in the following weeks to actually work on getting a good grade to pass the class.

“Perfect!” Yuta exclaimed as if he had won the lottery – Renjun wondered if that guy was naturally enthusiastic like that, even at the perspective of a presentation to work on, “are you free after this lecture? We can grab coffee and just chit-chat more and find what would be interesting for the both of us to work on.”

“I have time before my next lecture, so I'm okay with that plan.”

“I'm glad to hear that! Renjun, right?” (And if Renjun was surprised Yuta knew his name, he thought he managed badly to hide it.) “I'm Yuta.”

Renjun bit his lips not to reply that he already knew, and instead nodded and gently shook Yuta's hand that he had given him.

“I'm sure we'll work well together,” Yuta hummed, and after a final smile, he turned around again and looked toward the lecturer putting in place his powerpoint.

Renjun was in a daze, to say the least. Who would have thought that this would happen when he woke up this morning.

When the lecture ended, all the students took a little bit more time to give the lecturer the chosen duos, and Yuta wrote down his and Renjun's names next to each other on the paper, before turning toward Renjun and flashing him another one of his – now famous for Renjun – smiles.

“Let's go!”

Renjun nodded, and they exited the hall together. Renjun was a little bit shy, walking next to Yuta and his apparent ease; Renjun wasn't the type to be self-conscious, but next to Yuta, that he'd spent quite some time looking at, it seemed surreal that they were now spending time outside of the lecture together. He knew it was purely for a group project, that it was still academic related, but Renjun still got the chills.

Without even asking, Yuta led them to the usual café Renjun liked best, where he always got his infamous tea. Glancing at Yuta, he wondered if it was pure coincidence – it was, right? – when Yuta opened the door for him kindly, and said:

“That's the coffee shop where you get the drink you're always having in class, right?”

And Renjun, for the umpteenth time that day, was beyond surprised that Yuta had kept such a detail as the on-campus café logo on his to-go cup.

(Something warm spread through his lungs, and reached his burning cheeks as well. Dammit. _It's only a meeting for a class project, not a date, Huang Renjun!_ )

“You can take a table for us, I'll go order,” Yuta confidently said, brushing Renjun's elbow slightly to guide him towards the free space in the room.

Renjun, still wondering if he was really living that moment or not – because everything went quite smoothly and he didn't question the way things were progressing around him, as if he only followed the flow of the river without much complains – went to sit at a table for two next to the big windows, allowing them to enjoy the rays of sunshine that were peeking through this lenient weather.

He occupied himself by taking his laptop out and opening his class notes, to get a few ideas of what they could work on while comparing it to the lecturer's instructions. That was only when Yuta came back to the table with two drinks and a piece of chocolate cake in hand that he realized he'd never told Yuta what he wanted to drink.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry,” Renjun scurried, and he took out his wallet messily from his jacket pocket, “how much was it?”

Yuta tilted his head – and his many dangling earrings moved and sparkled – and then shook his head as if it was nothing to be stressing over.

“My treat, don't worry. I'm the one who asked you to go to a café when we could have gone to another place without getting something.”

Renjun was about to retort when Yuta pushed his drink toward him, and a really familiar fragrance wafted through the air.

“How did you know that's my usual drink?”

Yuta scratched his head, “I asked the barista if he knew your usual, and apparently you're quite well-known for it, so it was easy. I hope getting a second tea today is fine for you.”

Renjun melted a little bit to be with someone as caring as Yuta. It surely meant nothing to him – he must be like that with everyone, right? – but it was nice to be on the receiving end, sometimes.

“Thank you, I'll drink it well! And you know, even if I didn't want it or something, I don't refuse a drink someone gets me.”

Yuta's eyes shined with a hint of amusement, and he said:

“So you're the kind to accept a drink someone gets you when you go out in the club? Must happen often, too.”

Renjun's eyes widened so big and he almost spat out his sip of tea because of the surprise.

“Wha– That's not what I meant–” he denied vehemently. “I don't even get flirted with,” he added awkwardly with a laugh too tensed to be comfortable.

“Really?”

Renjun wiggled on his chair, not really knowing what Yuta meant by that.

“Hey, don't take that too seriously. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I didn't want that at all. Please enjoy your tea and ignore me if I say dumb stuff,” Yuta said, with a little smile – suddenly almost shy.

To change the subject, Yuta took one of the little forks on the plate between them and cut a bite of it, gesturing Renjun to have a taste of it.

(Yuta didn't know it, but chocolate cake was Renjun's favourite.)

“Let me take out my notes.”

Yuta rummaged through his bag and grabbed his lecture notes, and they easily began to discuss what they could work on. Renjun highlighted a few subjects he found interesting in what they've seen so far.

“I think it would be interesting to work on a comparison between the chinese characters and the utilization of _hangeul_ for the renewal of korean literature. As we both use these characters in our mother tongue, it's an asset we have compared to the other students in the class. It could be original and give us bonus points, to table on our different backgrounds and knowledge of chinese and japanese,” Yuta commented at some point, encircling a point he'd noted down from a comment the lecturer made once.

The idea automatically pleased Renjun as he was overly passionate when it came to all the differences and similarities and links between foreign languages, and he agreed with a big smile, nodding enthusiastically.

“Of course, we'll need to be careful not to move too far away from the main point which is korean literature, but I think we'll be able to find interesting links to highlight the uniqueness of the Joseon literature that way,” Renjun continued, and it was obvious the both of them were pleased that they've settled on something in such a short time of brainstorming.

“I'm glad we got that done today,” Yuta smiled widely. “We'll really be having fun with that subject.” He stretched, relaxed. “Now we can relax a bit.”

Renjun looked at his watch, and he noticed he still had time to kill before his next class. Yuta didn't seem in a rush to leave now that they had worked enough, and their drinks weren't empty yet, so Renjun took it as a cue to try to talk more with Yuta and ask questions unrelated to the course but more general to know more about him – if he was willing too.

“I was wondering in what major you're in,” Renjun asked, “mine is korean language and culture.”

“I know it may sound weird, but I'm already a graduate student, actually,” Yuta replied. “I am taking a few extra courses to work on my thesis regarding the teaching of korean culture.”

Renjun had a hard time hiding his surprise.

“Seriously? I'm only a sophomore, how older are you?”

Yuta hummed, “I believe around five years older? I'm in my second year of graduate school. And as you may know, our schedules and what we actually do is sometimes nebulous, even for us,” he added with a laugh.

Renjun now realized that indeed, Yuta looked more mature and adult than him, a bit more put together and confident, something that came with how used you were to live on campus. He reminded him of Kun, and Johnny.

However, knowing they had such a difference of age wasn't that big of a deal and changed nothing for Renjun. The both of them were students working on the same subject, after all.

“What do you do in your free time?” Yuta asked.

“Hm, outside of studying, I host a radio show on campus with my friends, it's called _Akdong Radio_.”

“Seriously? That's so cool, what kind of corner do you usually have?”

“Well, it's related to our majors: I love foreign languages, so I talk about chinese and korean. My friend, who's in performing art, does covers from time to time. Other than that, we read the letters students send us, and we talk about life on campus.”

“That must take a lot of time to prepare.”

“Yes, but I really enjoy it, so it's really fun to work on it.”

“That's cool! When does your radio air? If I think of it I'll check it out.”

Renjun smiled; it was kind of Yuta to ask him, even if he was only saying this out of politeness. Renjun wasn't expecting him to actually tune in – why would he listen to sophomores talking about undergraduate campus life?

“We're live on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm.”

“Got it!”

They talked more, the conversation flowing so smoothly that Renjun almost didn't see that it was time to head to his next class. He excused himself and stood up to get his stuff back in his bag.

“Thank you again for paying today, next time it'll be my treat.”

“Don't worry about it.”

“So, I'll go now.”

“Ah, Renjun, wait!”

Yuta put his hand on Renjun's wrist before he turned around, but let go of him directly after, maybe realizing Renjun would not like such an impulsive gesture.

“Can I get your number? So it'll be easier to contact each other for the project.”

“Oh, of course!”

Renjun took Yuta's phone that he held out, and he simply put his name (without emoji) and his number.

“Perfect! I'll contact you so you'll have my number as well.”

“Ok, have a nice afternoon, Yuta hyung.”

At the use of honorific, Yuta smiled more widely.

“Bye bye, Renjun.”

When Renjun came back from his last class to the dorm, Donghyuck was snacking on chips while sprawled on the couch they had the luxury to own.

“Good day?” Donghyuck asked.

“Tiring but fun,” he simply replied, putting his stuff away and going to change into a more comfortable sweatshirt.

When he entered the tiny living-room again, his phone buzzed in his back pocket and he took it out.

_From: unknown number_

_Hello Renjun! It's Yuta :)_

_I hope your class went well_

_Let's see this week how we can_

_schedule a meeting for the lit project_

_Also, good luck for your radio_

_tonight ^_^_

“What got you so smiley?” Donghyuck's voice startled Renjun and he sheepishly smiled.

“We got this group project in my lit class, and the guy I'm working with just sent me a text so we can schedule how we will work together.”

Donghyuck's curiosity had been obviously teased, as his stare became fierce and he sat more properly on the couch.

“And who's that guy?”

“Actually, he's a grad student, so you probably don't know him.”

Donghyuck whistled.

“Going after the more mature one, I see how you play, Huang Renjun.”

“Yah!” Renjun became crimson, embarrassed. “That's nothing like that!”

“Hm-hm, of course, Mister Huang.”

Donghyuck seemed like he had a sudden epiphany.

“Wait, by any chance, is it the good-looking guy you talked about after the first week?!”

Renjun's silence was all the answer Donghyuck needed.

“Oh my god! When I'll tell the others about how our sweet Renjunie is growing up, they won't believe it.”

“Oh, shut it, Lee,” Renjun whined, but there wasn't any real anger in his voice.

He actually was a bit happy, and selfish, of the situation. Even if for Yuta, it was probably like he was baby-sitting Renjun. Kind of.

He quickly replied to Yuta, and then it was time to head to the radio building.

(And if Renjun wondered if among the listeners that night, there was Yuta, he didn't voice it.)

“Don't be so nervous,” Donghyuck shoved Renjun gently.

“Easy for you to say, when you're used to having people watching you.”

Donghyuck laughed.

“In air in sixty seconds,” Jeno's voice resonated in the studio, and he made a thumbs up behind the glass separating the two rooms.

“It's like the usual, Jun, except that people can also see your face. What's more important is still your voice,” Donghyuck reassured him.

In front of them, they could see on the computer screen the two camera angles that had been set up by Jeno and the radio staff, after long discussions regarding the content of _Akdong Radio_. Renjun was happy they had been able to make it happen, finally, after only suggesting it while thinking of how _Night Night_ was working too. Renjun had been busy working on it, between his classes, the meetings with Yuta for their own final project, and the thousand other things sophomores weirdly always found themselves buried under. They had advertised their first viewable radio the best they could, and Renjun hoped it would increase the number of listeners, not only that night but the other days too.

The _on air_ button lightened up in red, and the usual jingle began to play.

“Good evening everyone! I am SunD.”

“And I am RenD!”

“We hope you spent a good day, and that _Akdong Radio_ will soothe you even a little bit. As you may probably know, today is a first in the history of _Akdong Radio_ : it is our first viewable schedule! Hi hi!”

Donghyuck enthusiastically waved at the camera, and Renjun did the same.

“We hope you'll appreciate this little change, and don't hesitate to tell us that you like it, maybe we'll be able to torture our Jeno more to be able to organize this more often.”

Behind the glass, they could see Jeno rolling his eyes, and both Renjun and Donghyuck laughed.

“Now, as usual, we'll begin with Renjun's wise words.”

“Thank you, Donghyuck. What I prepared for today matches the fact that now you can see us, too, as well as hear us like usual. I have a question for all of you: do you know what is the strongest language in the world?” Renjun tilted his head as if he was listening to people proposing a few answers, while Donghyuck hummed in his mic, pensive. Renjun continued quickly, “the answer is: a smile.” And he smiled at the camera. “It is the warmest, most beautiful language. How long has it been since you smiled from your heart? From today onwards, learn how to smile. When you smile, the world will love you. I hope you get to see the people you love around you answering with a smile of theirs, too.”

“Isn't our RenD's smile so cute?” Donghyuck commented, and Renjun shook his head, embarrassed. “With his beautiful words in mind, we'll come back after the little ads, thank you for tuning in and staying with us!”

Jeno cut their mics while the usual advertisements played, and they looked through the few live comments of the show.

“They are all saying that you're cute. Look at this one! _RenD's smile is healing me already_.”

Renjun was really embarrassed, but he was happy that more people interacted with the show. He chuckled when he saw a _renD truly multilingual king!!!!!_. Donghyuck's own smile widened when one of the comment said they couldn't wait to see Donghyuck's perform his usual Thursday's cover.

Remembering to acknowledge the camera and not get lost in the script was a bit of a challenge, but they managed their first viewable radio really well. As expected, the viewers increased when it was time for Donghyuck to do his mini cover of the week, and he stood up and used his usual microphone, while Renjun took out his phone, put on the flashlight, and acted as if he was a fan during a concert, waving it in front of Donghyuck. He exaggerated his own expression as if he was extra emotional, putting his hand over his mouth not to cry too loud, but the way his eyes wrinkled made it all really funny. Once Donghyuck hit the last note, Renjun clapped profusely, taking over the audio.

“Waah, it looked like a real concert this time. I'm glad our listeners have been able to see you performing like I do every week.”

“Thank you! And now, sadly, that brings us to the end of our radio tonight. As it was a special moment we shared with everyone, we have another surprise and question for you all. What did you like best through this viewable radio? Was it RenD's dazzling smile or SunD's outstanding solo? Maybe it was when RenD messily took a sip of his water bottle, his expression right after that could be meme worthy, I'm sure of it.”

“Real funny, Donghyuck,” Renjun took over, “all in all, don't hesitate to send us your reactions, and we'll probably do something with all your favourite moments and maybe upload them! If you want us to try this again, please show us your interest, we would be happy to provide!”

“And once again thank you to our Jeno, who behind the scenes learnt all the tricks to make this viewable radio possible. As always, it has been SunD.”

“And RenD! Thank you to everyone who followed our radio show tonight too.”

“And we wish you a good night. Bye bye!”

They waved at the camera with the same enthusiasm they carried the whole emission, and then the camera cut, giving place to the usual information that always followed _Akdong Radio_. Renjun couldn't conceal his smile; he wasn't expecting to like this kind of broadcast so much.

“Guys, that's crazy, at some point we got triple the amount of listeners we usually have!” Jeno exclaimed, entering the studio.

“Are you kidding?! That's insane!”

“We'll get the whole weekend to go through the feedback, I think there will be more messages than usual. Shit, that's _so_ exciting!”

“Hey, Mark and Jaemin are waiting for us in the lobby so we can go grab something to eat to celebrate how successful we've been,” Donghyuck said after checking his phone. “Mark said he's paying, we better honor his wallet!”

Renjun was waiting for Yuta the next morning at the usual café, laptop opened to go through the comments they've got after the viewable radio. Everyone seemed to have fun and there had been more interactions that usual, which Renjun hoped would continue even for the non-viewable schedules.

He only noticed Yuta arrived in the café when he sat opposite of him with a _hello_ and his own coffee, as well as a chocolate muffin he pushed toward Renjun.

“Hi, Yuta hyung. What's that for?” he tilted his head, curious as to why today Yuta had also bought something to eat.

“It's to congratulate you!”

“For what?”

Yuta shook his head with a little knowing smile.

“You think I didn't know yesterday was your first viewable radio? I watched it, it was so fun. And I heard that it's been quite gathering more people than usual, so you deserve a treat for your hard work. You like chocolate, don't you?”

Renjun stuttered a strangled _yes_ , followed by a _thank you_. He wasn't expecting Yuta to watch his radio – he had not told him about the special broadcast the last time they saw each other in class – and it actually warmed his heart more than usual that Yuta had taken the time to be interested in Renjun's work, and to support him and their team by watching it too.

“Your friend, SunD? He's really good at singing, that's crazy.”

“He is, right?” Renjun commented proudly.

“Next time, will you be the one singing?”

“I'm not that good, so nope,” Renjun dismissed.

“I'm sure it's not true, you told me once that you like _karaoke_. If you ever want to sing too, go for it.”

“We'll see.” Renjun was touched by his encouragements. “Apparently, based on all the feedback we got, Donghyuck's – SunD – cover was everyone's favourite part of the show.”

“Ey, not everyone's. Mine is without a doubt when you did your intro at the beginning. You were so cute. The strongest language in the world is a smile, hm?”

And right at that moment, Renjun's heart skipped a few beats. Yuta was smiling so genuinely at him, referencing to Renjun's words, offering him a smile of his own.

And Renjun believed a little bit more in his own words, and smiled back at Yuta, with something warm and sweet like the honey he put in his tea filling his lungs.

(There was also the internal breakdown that didn't leave him, that was something similar to _oh shit Yuta hyung watched me during the viewable radio show, oh shit he said I was cute, oh shit_.)

“Which shirt do I wear?” Renjun asked loudly, in front of the mirror in his bedroom.

Donghyuck passed his head through the open door, and looked with critical eyes at the two hangers he had in his hands.

“The baby blue one. You look extra good in this one.”

“That will make someone swoon, for sure,” Jaemin commented from behind Donghyuck, a brush full of eyeshadow in his hand while only one of his eyelids was actually done with a pretty peach sparkly gradient.

“I don't want to make anyone swoon,” Renjun muttered under his breath.

“Oh my dear little boy, still denying something is going on between you and your Yuta hyung?”

Renjun scowled at Donghyuck while putting on the slightly oversized shirt and tucking it in his skinny black jeans.

“I enjoy his company and we work well together for our final project. There's nothing else, why would he be interested in a sophomore student when he's about to get his master's degree?”

“Someone's bitter,” Jeno sing-sang from the living-room.

“Not you too, Jeno!”

Renjun heard Jeno's laughter as a reply.

“We don't even know if he's going to the club tonight, so quit it,” Renjun whined.

The usual club everyone from campus went to was having a special night, and of course a lot of students had decided to go, including Renjun and his friends. Renjun only wanted to lose himself in the music for a few hours, after the usual stress uni work brought them.

He was also a bit confused, and although his friends found the situation funny, he couldn't really voice out loud that as much as he liked Yuta's presence, as much as Yuta always brought a smile back on his lips, with how kind and supportive he was in whatever Renjun was talking about, Renjun wondered if it was a default mode for Yuta, or if that meant more.

The others dropped the subject while Renjun took his time to do his makeup, but Donghyuck couldn't leave Renjun alone when it came to something as juicy as his best friend in an ambiguous situation with a graduate student.

“You outdid yourself tonight, Jun, you look so good,” Jaemin whistled.

“Let's make an experiment,” Donghyuck decided. “Renjunie, Yuta follows your Instagram, right?”

“Yes?”

“Ok, so now, you're gonna take a goddamn good mirror selfie and post it on your story. I bet he'll reply something.”

“And if he doesn't, someone else will and that's a win for you anyway, because you're a whole snack.”

As much as Renjun was embarrassed, it felt good to feel like the best version of himself, so he accepted Donghyuck's proposition, and even if he tried to act nonchalant he was secretly hoping that Yuta would reply.

He took several pictures, they went through an intransigent decision process, and finally decided on a picture that showed Renjun's beautiful side profile, a peak on his collarbone because of the oversized shirt low on his shoulders, and the highlight on his cheeks on point, as well as his little rosy tongue picking out of his mouth. You could also judge how tiny his waist was, with his shirt tucked in those sinful black pants.

Renjun couldn't believe it was him on the picture, but it was true that he looked _really_ good.

He added a gif saying _party tonight!!!_ with a fire emoji, and before renouncing, clicked the publish button and then locked his phone and put it in his pocket, not believing he'd posted that. Around him, his friends were cheering loudly.

“We'll just have to wait a little bit and see if _you know who_ reacts.”

In the meantime, Donghyuck got out a few beers to drink to get started on the night before spending too much on overpriced alcohol once they'd be at the club.

It was halfway through his beer that Renjun got the notification Donghyuck bet would happen.

_yuu_taa_1026 has commented on your story_

_sexy tonight are we_

Combusting on the spot, Renjun had only 0,1% of his brain capacity when he taped and sent _haha yup :D._

Without any surprise, he automatically regretted his answer.

“Dude, you're hopeless. Want me to spell it for you? _H o p e l e and double s_ ,” Jeno sighed loudly when he glanced at Renjun's screen.

“And you're still wondering if he likes you or not? For fuck's sake, he can't be more obvious than that. Maybe the only thing more obvious would be if he actually asked you on a date.”

“With this behaviour, Renjun, I declare that it's time to get the soju already.”

When it was late enough to be a decent time to head to the club, and that they were tipsy, the put on their shoes and their jackets and walked the few blocks to reach the party. On their way, Yuta had still not replied to Renjun's awkward last message, and he tried to ignore it by drinking a little bit more of the beer can he'd taken for the walk. Jaemin was checking his own phone as well, and told them that Jaehyun, Johnny and their older friends would go to the club as well.

“It's been forever I've seen them, it'll be so fuuuuun!” Donghyuck exclaimed, and he made a spin in the middle of the empty road to express his excitement.

When they arrived at the club, a few people were smoking in front of it while the heavy bass could be sensed through the ground and the music heard each time the entrance door opened. They got their ID checked, paid the entrance fees and then put their jackets in the cloakroom. Renjun could already feel himself sweating a bit through his shirt, but he rolled up his sleeves – which got approved by Jeno with a thumbs up, while he himself arbored his beloved sleeveless expensive tank top that showed how nice his toned arms were.

They first went to the bar to get their free drink – offered as the special event – and they cheered together, adding to the already loud and electric atmosphere.

Glass in hand, Renjun went to the dance floor and immersed himself in the music, eyes closed and from time to time sipping his alcoholic drink. Jaemin danced closely against him, which allowed them not to be bothered by other people who wanted to come too close.

After a few songs and when Renjun's glass was empty, he pointed toward the bar again and Jaemin nodded and followed him with a bit of difficulty between the people dancing. They breathed better once at the bar, and they gave back their glasses without asking for another one, simply choosing to chat a bit while they could see Jeno and Donghyuck dancing from where they were.

“Little Jae!” someone shouted, and before any of them could react, there was a Johnny draped around Jaemin's thinner frame.

Renjun laughed and hugged Jaehyun who was right beside his older friend.

“How are you?” Jaehyun asked him with his dimpled smile, handsome as always in a simple white shirt.

“Oh you know, the usual, glad to have a night out to forget uni stress and ready to get drunk and hangover,” Renjun laughed.

“Nothing more, not trying to get someone's attention?” Jaehyun ruffled his hair a little bit with an enormous grin. “Because I saw your little instagram story, that was meant to impress someone, wasn't it?”

Renjun had drunk too much to defend himself, and he only shrugged, not denying Jaehyun's words.

“Oh, we didn't come only the two of us by the way,” the older continued, “Kun must be somewhere, and also...”

“Hey, Renjun.”

Renjun's brain recognized the voice but short-circuited, as if he was back in his dorm and writing such a dumb reply to Yuta's comment on his story. Beside him, Jaemin's smile widened even more if it was possible, and the others looked at him with curiosity.

“H-hi, Yuta hyung,” he managed to blurt out.

Yuta had his long hair high in a man bun, with hairpins securing the rebel strands he always seemed to have. He too was wearing a shirt, but it arbored a dark flower pattern and more buttons were opened to have a view on his torso, enough to be suggestive but still cheeky. A few necklaces glinted around his neck.

In other words, Yuta was a whole snack, and Renjun's drunk brain couldn't provide much thoughts, except that he suddenly felt embarrassed, and also really, really happy to be able to look at Yuta when he was this good-looking.

“You know Renjun?” Johnny asked Yuta, surprised.

And then it looked like a few connections had been made in his brain, and at the same time with Jaehyun, he exclaimed:

“Wait! Renjun is that other student you're always talking about?!”

If Renjun could hide somewhere – if he was lucky, inside Yuta's chest, but he would never say that out loud – he would, because the situation brought too many new information. Like the fact that his group project partner also known as his crush that he still couldn't quite acknowledged also known as this graduate student that was still kinda intimidating to him, was friend with the few other graduate students Renjun happened to know.

The biggest information though, was probably that _Yuta talked about him to his friends_. Just like Renjun talked about Yuta to his own friends, too. If his head wasn't spinning already because of all the drinks he had, it for sure would spin now.

Everyone around him made the same realization – and Jaehyun seemed _delighted_ that he had found for who Renjun had posted such a gorgeous mirror selca on his story.

“Well, I can't wait to dance, so let's go, little Jae, big Jae!” Johnny shouted.

And quickly enough, there were only Yuta and Renjun at the bar.

Renjun, in normal time, would act oblivious around Yuta, because he was too scared to assume that what his friend – he was a friend at this point, wasn't he? – didn't mean anything more with his gentle gestures, encouraging words and blinding smiles. But what was wonderful right at that moment, was that it wasn't “normal time”. Renjun felt good, he was bolder thanks to the alcohol in his system, and he knew he looked extra kissable with how he had decided to dress up. And Yuta had called him _sexy_ , and his friends let slip out that he apparently thought of Renjun enough to talk about him to others.

So Renjun thought, _fuck it_ , and when Yuta asked him if he would accept a drink from him, he thought back on one of their first conversations, and accepted right away.

“How many drinks did you accept tonight so far? I assume people threw themselves at you,” Yuta joked around, but he came closer to Renjun, with his hand hovering over his waist, if Renjun was alright with the PDA.

“You're the first one to offer me a drink. And the only person I would have accepted a drink from, anyway,” Renjun replied boldly, and he patted himself internally, proud.

Yuta laughed and the movement gave Renjun a beautiful view on his neck and adam apple.

Oh god, he was so lucky, he couldn't believe it.

Yuta ended up paying for both their drinks, and while they sipped at them in a corner of the bar, Yuta had put his arm around Renjun's waist, and Renjun liked the weight of it. It was careful, gentle, yet certain. He felt at ease and reassured.

It for sure was far away from their usual meetings, in the coffee shop or the library, and all Renjun's brain could provide right at that moment was: _fucking finally_. Renjun was delighted to have Yuta's undivided attention on him, to be able to caress his arm like he wanted to do sometimes while they were studying but was too shy to try; he even played with Yuta's long hair, feeling how silky they were between his fingertips.

When they actually went to dance together, it was even better. It felt like there was only them jumping around, Yuta's hands on Renjun's hips, Renjun's hands on Yuta's shoulders or against his chest.

And after minutes of anticipation, with Renjun playing around, Yuta getting closer and closer, Renjun finally gave up, and he raised his head, bumped his nose with Yuta's, and then they slotted their mouths together.

And they kissed for what felt like hours on the dance floor, oblivious of their friends eyeing them and cheering for them.

Renjun could only register how good of a kisser Yuta was, when it felt like electricity and adrenaline ran through his whole body, pumping at the same rhythm as the music that engulfed them in that club.

His head throbbing of hurt wasn't something Renjun wanted to deal with the moment he woke up, yet here he was.

What was worse was that the pain didn't reduce as he waited for a few minutes, miserable in his bed. With the discomfort of his headache that made him wanted to split his cranial cavity in half to throw his brain somewhere else, there was a nausea that made its way from the bottom of his stomach.

Renjun hated hangover, but this one was about to be a bitch, he knew that.

He whined pitifully when his head spinned as he moved around in his blanket, trying to find a position that wouldn't make him want to throw himself out the window to shorten his suffering. Renjun knew he was dramatic when he was sick, but right now that was a whole new level of pain he was experiencing. He knew he was doomed when he suddenly shivered, his mouth got dry, and a cold sweat broke in his back.

As fast as he could, he left his bed and ran to the bathroom.

What a way to wake up, for sure.

Renjun had a tiny hint of regret to have drunk so much the night before, but he had fun with everyone. If his body could only not hate him and retaliate Renjun's questionable decisions that way, he'd be a little bit happier. His nausea disappeared for a bit, while Renjun whined hopelessly in front of the toilets, slightly soothed by how cold the tiling of the bathroom felt against his burning skin.

He brushed his teeth, trying to ignore how miserable he looked in the mirror, with the only idea in mind to go back to sleep. Compared to Donghyuck who could eat their whole fridge to fight an hangover, Renjun couldn't eat anything, the simple idea of food making him feel nauseous again. It was already afternoon, but it was also a Sunday, so Renjun didn't feel guilty when he was back under his blanket while his shutters were closed.

Renjun woke up disoriented hours later, not feeling particularly better; it didn't feel like it was his hangover's fault, though. He cursed under his breath, and dragged himself in the kitchen to drink water. His throat felt like an old parchment and his stomach was growling, unhappy.

“Good morning to you, Renjunie, it is almost 6 in the evening!” Donghyuck chirped, sitting at the table.

Renjun looked at him with a murderous stare, and in lieu of a reply, fetched a painkiller to soothe his poor state. When he was feeling sick like this, he either would cry like a baby, or be angry for nothing – he didn't like to be seen in such a vulnerable state, nor wanted to bother anyone to take care of him. His friends had already told him that he had nothing to be ashamed of, but habits were strong.

He left the kitchen to go take a shower to make himself feel better, and changed into another pyjama. His day had been wasted away, he didn't have to work on anything, and he still felt sick. He took his pillow and his fluffy blanket from his room, and went to lie down on the couch in the living-room to doze off in front of the little TV Donghyuck and him were proud to own.

After a few minutes, Donghyuck joined Renjun with a bowl of _kongee_ , and put it in front of him on the coffee table without a word; then, he changed the uninteresting program that Renjun didn't have the strength to change, and logged in their shared Netflix account to continue a chinese drama that Renjun liked.

Renjun ate a bit and then lied down with his head on Donghyuck's laps. Donghyuck played with his hair which made him doze off quicker than he expected, and with the soothing chinese coming from the speakers, he took another nap.

When he woke up for what felt like the hundred times that day while still feeling exhausted, Donghyuck was working on his laptop, still next to him on the couch.

“How are you?” his friend whispered.

“Still feeling like shit. I think I caught something,” Renjun grumbled, tightening his blanket around his shoulder.

“I'll reheat the _kongee_ and you can take another medicine with it.”

Renjun hummed. He put his hand over his eyes, and between the thoughts of how tired he was, there were the ones linked to what had happened the day before. If he wasn't feeling feverish already because of his illness, he would become crimson again.

Oh god, he really did kiss Yuta, didn't he? And not only once. They spent their time sucking each other's face.

Now, without any alcohol in his system, Renjun was _mortified_. It wasn't like he didn't like it – he loved it – but he was embarrassed by his own actions. He felt even more miserable that he was far from being as handsome and fresh as the night before. In his pyjama and sick, he almost felt ashamed.

“Have you checked your phone?” Donghyuck asked when he came back with the reheated _kongee_.

“Not yet... I don't know if I want to.”

Renjun hid his face under his pillow and screamed in it.

“You're overreacting, sweetheart,” Donghyuck patted his knee. “And with your sickness, it doesn't get better.”

“What if Yuta has sent me a message? Oh my god, _worse_ , what if he has sent nothing?”

“If he's sent nothing, I'll go give him a piece of my mind. But you'll never know if you don't check your messages.”

Renjun made puppy eyes at his best friend.

“Can you check my phone for me?”

Donghyuck sighed, but accepted, and went to Renjun's room to find the phone still in the back pocket of Renjun's black jeans.

“You've got a few notifications from Instagram, you've been tagged in different stories – I've seen them all on my phone, except one where you're busy kissing Yuta, it's nothing too outrageous – and... there you go, a message notification from Yuta with the sparkles emoji next to it.”

Renjun's heart beat faster.

“Yuta got an emoji and I'm still saved under _Lee Donghyuck_?”

“Oh, shut it.”

“Anyway, Yuta just sent you a _see you on monday_. There's a heart at the end, if you wanted to know. That's a good news, right? Hey, why are you gloomy?”

“I'm not gloomy, I'm just... embarrassed.”

“Seriously, Jun, no one cares you spent your night french kissing Yuta. We've been waiting for weeks for you to acknowledge that you like him more than that, and the wonderful news is that he's friend with Jaehyun and the others. They even told us Yuta can't shut up about you. That's good news after good news, don't worry your little head and take it easy. Now, you have a handsome guy to take on dates and to pay for your jasmine tea, isn't that so cool? I'm jealous, dude.”

Renjun looked at the steam coming out of his bowl of food. He unclenched his hands on his laps.

“You don't find it weird?”

“What?”

“Yuta and I, we got like. Five years of age difference.”

Donghyuck looked at it as if Renjun had said something as interesting as how the weather had been three days ago.

“And?”

Renjun couldn't find something to reply. Donghyuck was right: and so what? There was nothing wrong in what they were doing.

“Thanks, Hyuckie.”

Donghyuck smiled warmly at him.

“No problem, dude. Now eat and get better.”

Unfortunately, Renjun didn't feel well enough on Monday to go to campus, and he decided to skip his classes that day in favor of his bed, a few naps and a chinese drama. It also meant he would not be able to participate to _Akdong Radio_ , nor was he able to see Yuta during their shared class. He had texted him so he would be aware of his absence. Not being allowed to join the two things he most enjoyed in his week was hard on his mood.

He knew Donghyuck could handle the show without him, and he knew he was not vital in the literature class for Yuta. But he still felt kinda useless.

Donghyuck couldn't come back to check on him as he had other class work to take care of on campus, so it was with a lot of boredom that Renjun spent his day despite the few texts exchanged with his best friend. (He didn't want to bother Yuta yet, he felt like he would look clingy. He still had to work on that, but also, Yuta and him had not really talked of their situation, so...)

_From: Donghyuck_

_lucky it's not the day of your chinese corner_

_u would be too embarrassed by my poor accent if i was the one to handle it alone_

_From: Renjun_

_u know it's not true, & your accent is cute_

_From: Donghyuck_

_hmmmmmmm~~~_

_i bet you find Yuta's accent cuter :p_

_From: Renjun_

… _.??_

_where does that come from >:(_

_From: Donghyuck_

_naaah nothing_

_i just wanted to tease you a bit to bring you out of your misery_

_hey, i gotta go_

_don't die while i take care of our baby tonight!!!_

_From: Renjun_

_dw and work well!!!_

The time went by slowly and he still felt under the weather. A glance at the clock told him that if he had been on campus like usual, he would have finished his class with Yuta. Maybe they would have went to the coffee shop to spend more time together. Maybe he would have had enough courage to ask Yuta on a date, or even to kiss him before Renjun's other class. So many hypothesis that would never be verified anyway, because Renjun was stuck at home and sick.

He wished he could go back to Saturday night, when Yuta's hand was around his waist. His cheeks took a pretty rosy color by only thinking of it again.

He divagued a little bit more until someone rang at the door. Renjun was expecting no one as Donghyuck had his schedules full for the day, but maybe it was one of their other friends who came to take care of him. He went to open the door for the guest, one of his hands scratching at his messy hair while the other was on the knob.

To be honest, he wasn't expecting to see Yuta again in his doorway while he himself was wearing his oversized pyjama.

You couldn't make a bigger contrast with his outfit from the night at the club.

“Hi, Renjun,” Yuta greeted him with the sweetest voice and the sweetest smile, not looking one percent bothered by the fact that Renjun looked like a mess.

“H-hyung,” Renjun stuttered, and he almost closed the door on Yuta's nose before he was reminded of basic courtesy. “Oh my god, I didn't know you'd come, I'm still sick and nothing's tidy–”

“Hey, don't worry, I should have told you beforehand. Donghyuck told me you would be alone this afternoon too and I thought you might want company and someone to take care of you. Is that ok with you?”

Despite the fact that Renjun was embarrassed to be underdressed as he only nursed his sickness the whole day, he was so deeply happy that Yuta had come to see how he was doing right after his class. It made something warm bloom inside his chest, and he smiled at Yuta, finally opening the door wider to welcome him inside.

“Y-you can sit on the couch, wait–” Renjun said while picking up the mountain of blankets he'd put there, but Yuta stopped him with a delicate hand on his wrist.

“Nope, that won't do. You go back snuggling with your blankets to keep yourself cosy, and I use the kitchen to make you something. Hot jasmine tea sounds good?”

Renjun melted right on the spot, and nodded without a word. He couldn't believe how caring Yuta was while he was being clumsy like that. Renjun realized he had no reason to be so fidgety when Yuta was so calm and smiley.

Yuta came back to the living-room with two mugs, and after he sat down next to Renjun, he took a paperbag with inside Renjun's favourite chocolate cookie from his usual coffee shop out of his bag and put it on the coffee table.

“It's not because you're sick that you can't have nice things. If you're feeling well enough to eat, a little bit of chocolate won't hurt, and it's good for your mood.”

“Thank you so much, Yuta hyung.”

“It's nothing.”

Renjun, with his favourite tea warm in his hands, couldn't help but see how natural it felt, to have Yuta by his side in his flat. It was weird, in a sense, because they didn't know each other since that long, but their liking in each other had been obvious for weeks, and the past weekend they'd had acted on the tension between them. Renjun had liked everything – from Yuta's clever comments during their literature class, to the way his hair clips shined under the sun, to how he thumbed Renjun's collarbone while they were kissing in the semi-darkness of the club.

And Renjun felt that growing need to talk more, see more, experience more, share more with Yuta.

Was it too sudden, or too much? Renjun knew it wasn't love, but it was a feeling that brought him peace and excitement all at once. He didn't want to let go of it, if Yuta was down for following him.

“Do you want to watch something, or to nap? I can stay even if you sleep, if you prefer there's someone when you wake up. Or if you're not comfortable enough, I can leave after you've finished your tea, I don't want to intrude.”

“Please, Yuta hyung, you're not intruding or crossing any boundary. I'm– I'm really glad you came. I'm just sorry that I'm not at my best right now. I... I missed you.”

Renjun hid his red cheeks by gulping at his tea. When he glanced back at Yuta, he arbored a fond smile.

“I missed you too. I was worried to learn that you've been sick. The club was fun with you, but if it puts you in so much pain after, I'd rather we enjoy time together in a calmer place.”

At the allusion to how much fun they had at the club, Renjun tried to conceal again images that he wouldn't mind reacting again but that were a big no because of his current state of sickness. But if Yuta referred to it so casually and with the same enthusiasm Renjun had internally, then it reassured him of one thing: he had not been the only one enjoying it, nor was he the only one wanting to make it happen again.

“I promise I don't fall sick everytime after I went to a club.”

“So if the occasion comes again, we could go together and have fun?”

“For sure!”

Yuta drank a little bit of his own tea, and then looked a bit more seriously at Renjun:

“You know, I would like to be honest with you. Since we know each other, I really enjoy your company, and we work well together for the lecture we share, but it's not only that. Maybe it's a bit silly to say that after how we spent our time kissing at the club, but I want you to know that, I'm serious, if you wanna try to date me. I would actually be sad if I can't kiss you again, or see you go all out with your outfits. Even if you're really cute right now, too, don't think otherwise.”

“How can you say this kind of stuff so casually?!” Renjun whined, hiding behind his mug.

“Maybe it's my wiser age,” Yuta teased him.

“Ah, right, because you're such a grandpa,” Renjun teased back.

“You liked kissing this grandpa, if I recall my memories well.”

“And I would like to kiss him again,” Renjun blurted out before he could truly think.

Yuta laughed, but it was nowhere mocking, and it just made Renjun feel good.

“Once you're back to health, I promise you we can do that again.”

“God, this illness better leave soon, then.”

“In the meantime, I can do that.”

And Yuta leaned toward Renjun, and kissed his forehead gently.

Renjun liked that very much, too. He would learn soon enough that he liked any kind of kiss coming from Yuta, actually.

(Donghyuck came back from the radio schedule to the view of Renjun snoring softly with his head against Yuta's torso, half laying down on him. It didn't seem to bother Yuta at all.)

The _on air_ button lightened up in red in the studio, and like so many nights before, it was time to tune in for _Akdong Radio_.

“Good evening everyone! I am SunD.”

“And I am RenD!”

“We hope you spent a good day, and that _Akdong Radio_ will soothe you even a little bit. We prepared something, or rather someone, special for today, and we can't wait to tell you who it is. RenD, I'm giving you the honor of presenting our guest!”

“Thank you. First of all, today is Wednesday, which means I'll share with you our usual chinese word of the week. As you may probably all know, I enjoy talking about so many different languages on our _Akdong Radio_ , and that's why we've been preparing a new corner, that is going to last as long you like it. Please welcome Yuta, our guest for the Wednesday shows, who's going to take care of the japanese word of the day!”

Donghyuck and Renjun clapped in front of their mics for the effect.

“Hi everyone, I'm Yuta, your new guest. I hope you'll like what we've prepared.”

“As it's the first time you're here on our radio, what about giving us some information about yourself? Juicy or not, as you like,” Donghyuck wriggled his eyebrows even if the listeners couldn't see it.

“Hm, my hometown is Osaka, I am a graduate student here, planning on getting a master in education to later, if I can, teach korean to foreign students.”

“Maybe it's TMI, but Yuta is a friend of _Night Night_ 's Johnny and Jaehyun!” Renjun added.

While Yuta rolled his eyes, amused but fond, Donghyuck didn't wait to make a comment of his own:

“You want to know what's more TMI? Yuta is actually RenD's boyfriend!”

Renjun glared at Donghyuck while he cackled, proud of himself. The reactions on the live chat came instantly, from _omg renD has a boyfriend!!!!!!_ to _congratulations!!!_ and _can't wait for a viewable radio to see the couple_. However, Renjun didn't have time to focus on them because Donghyuck talked again:

“But now, look at the minutes passing, it is time for our RenD to tell us his wise words of the day.”

Renjun coughed, and look at his script, at the words he'd prepared.

“Today's message I want to convey is really important to me. You see, at first I cared a lot about other's opinion of me. How they saw me, how they thought of me, how I could act better in front of them. I realized that I couldn't keep doing what other people say forever, so I started walking my own path. I'm making the decisions that make me happy and that I value. I'm trusting myself more, now.”

He said the few last words while looking with a smile at Yuta, who mirrored it before humming and adding a comment of his own:

“I always think of this, no matter how many people are around you, you yourself will be the only one who can stand by your side in the end. You know yourself well and you have to trust yourself. I think that RenD's words today are really important, so keep them somewhere in your mind for the life you want to live.”

“As you've heard, our couple back up each other quite sweetly, I'm almost jealous. After their wise words, it's time for the usual ads. See you right after them!”

And while the ads were playing, if that was a viewable show, all the listeners would be able to see Renjun and Yuta looking at each other with a shining smile, while Donghyuck and Jeno faked to roll eyes at them, but obviously happy for their friends.

**Author's Note:**

> i actually used real snippets from renra for some of renjun's words in this ff!! i encourage everyone to support our renjun and his radioshow (tbs efm everyday @ 9pm kst on yt) <3
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/_renjunbaobei) \+ [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jeolmeoniji)


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